The Central Okanagan School District 23 (SD23) has won an appeal against the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) to build a new school in West Kelowna, with one exception.
The win means, SD23 can now complete a Project Development Report (PDR) to see how feasible it is to build a secondary school on a 14-hectare site along Webber Road.
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“A PDR is a study that is funded by the government,” said SD23 secretary-treasurer Ryan Stierman. “Essentially, through work done with various consultants, we conduct a preliminary analysis to see if building on the site is feasible and what the costs would be for the project.”
While the district has the green light by the ALC to build the school on the Agriculture Land Reserve, Stierman said there is still one final approval needed to proceed before construction.
“We anticipate to have the PDR done before spring of 2020,” said Stierman. “After that, we would be hopeful that will prompt an approval by the B.C. government to begin construction of the school.”
If the PDR comes back feasible to build the school, funding would be allocated by the provincial government out of their budget to proceed with the project, said superintendent of Central Okanagan Public Schools Kevin Kaardal.
If approved, Stierman said construction for the school would likely begin in 2021.
Stierman made it clear that the district would build the school to the adjacent Webber Road Community Centre.
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